A woman alone on a Caribbean cruise was settling into bed on Valentine’s Day when a man, hiding in her cabin, pounced. For nearly an hour, he beat, choked and raped her before trying to throw her overboard.

Those screams were heard by other passengers aboard the Holland America Line cruise -- for all the good that did.

Having filed a lawsuit against the Seattle-based cruise line, the woman’s attorneys contend 911 calls from other passengers were given a lower priority than reports of an overflowing toilet elsewhere on the ship. When a Holland America crew member did arrive, the front desk worker didn’t have a key to the woman’s room.

The woman, a Michigan resident, endured 45 minutes to an hour of abuse at the hands of Ketut Pujayasa, a room service attendant. Pujayasa, 29, is currently serving a 30-year term in federal prison after pleading guilty to attempted murder and aggravated sexual assault.

Speaking Thursday, Hickey said Holland America could’ve stopped the attack all together or at least shortened its duration by creating reasonable security protocols. Instead, the woman was left with broken bones in her face and back, brain damage and enduring mental problems.

“This could’ve been prevented,” said Hickey, a Florida attorney specializing in lawsuits against cruise lines. “Most of the injuries could’ve been prevented if they’d responded.”

Requests for comment made to Holland America were not immediately returned.

Prosecutors' statements filed in the criminal case against Pujayasa describe a sudden, brutal attack that nearly claimed the woman’s life.

Having left Fort Lauderdale, Florida, four days before, the MS Nieuw Amsterdam was in international waters on the night of Feb. 13. The victim returned to her room around midnight and was in bed, falling asleep, when Pujayasa attacked her.

The woman, a gymnast and aerial dancer, fought her assailant during what prosecutors described as a “relentless” assault. Pujayasa choked her with several cords, rendering her unconscious for some time. Investigators would later determine Pujayasa raped her while she was knocked out.

At one point during the fight, Pujayasa tried to throw the woman over her balcony railing into the sea.

“If that had happened, nobody would’ve seen her again,” Hickey said.

“She’s very athletic, which is the only thing that saved her life,” he continued.

The woman was able to fight her way out of the cabin, where she was helped by other passengers and the ship’s crew. The ship docked in Honduras hours later and the woman was flown by air ambulance back to Florida.

Witnesses described seeing the woman covered in blood. Her doctors would later determine she’d suffered broken bones in her back and face, as well as other injuries. Her attorneys contend those injuries and the psychological damage of the attack continue to trouble her.

Pujayasa later claimed he was upset that the woman had called him a “son of a bitch” after he knocked on her door repeatedly while delivering breakfast. According to prosecutors’ statements, Pujayasa admitted to searching the ship for her with plans to punch her in the face.

Unable to do so, he used a master key to break into the woman’s cabin. He then waited to exact his revenge; while doing so, he fell asleep on the cabin balcony.

Pujayasa told investigators he beat, bit and anally raped the woman to “punish” her for the comment, prosecutors said. He said he tried to throw her overboard to hide that crime.

The attack left the woman deeply shaken. She’s unable to be alone, according to prosecutors’ statements, or practice the athletics she previously excelled at.

“She continues to have flashbacks, sleep disturbances, problems with concentration which has not only affected her career but has also caused stress to her marriage,” Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Catherine Koontz said in court papers prior to Pujayasa’s sentencing in January. “Clearly this demonstrates a substantial impairment of (her) intellect, as well as her psychological and emotional well-being.”

Hickey, who is representing the woman alongside attorney Bjorg Eikeland and others, said Holland America’s failure to protect his client was so complete it’s difficult to believe.

“If I’d written a movie like this … you wouldn’t believe it could be true,” he said. “Just a series of mistakes and incompetence.”

Records show another passenger’s report of an overflowing toilet was tagged as a “high priority” by the ship’s front desk the night the woman was attacked, Hickey said. Calls from passengers concerned about the woman’s cries for help, he said, were deemed to be of a lower priority.

Pujayasa shouldn’t have had a key to the woman’s cabin at the time of the attack – he wasn’t on duty and had no business having an all-access key. The front desk worker who responded to the assault should’ve had a key, but didn’t.

More broadly, Hickey faulted the cruise line for not ensuring that the 911 system on its ships – many of which host 2,000 or more passengers – actually connects passengers with emergency services personnel.

Attorneys for the cruise line claim Holland America couldn’t have known of Pujayasa’s propensity for sexual misconduct. Acting on the cruise line’s behalf, they denied wrongdoing and have asked that the lawsuit be dismissed.

The lawsuit was filed Jan. 21 at U.S. District Court in Seattle. It is currently slated to go to trial in late 2016 before District Judge Robert Lasnik.